Twins fans have seen this before from Francisco Liriano and now Pirates fans are seeing it too. Great. Terrible. Great. Terrible. Repeat as needed.
Liriano was a huge part of Pittsburgh’s rise to the playoffs last season, going 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 161 innings on the way to the Comeback Player of the Year award. And now this season he’s 0-4 with a 4.86 ERA through 10 starts, serving up seven homers already after allowing a total of nine homers in 26 starts last year.
Compared to last season Liriano’s average fastball velocity is down from 93.0 miles per hour to 92.0 miles per hour, and both his slider and changeup are down about the same speed. However, he’s actually generating more ground balls and more swinging strikes than last season and his secondary numbers suggest he’s pitched more like a 3.50 ERA guy than a 4.86 ERA guy so far if luck were to even out.
Pittsburgh desperately needs Liriano to pitch like he did last season if they’re going to dig out of this early 18-26 hole and while he’s been frustrating to watch so far there’s reason to believe he can get back on track.
